Friday, 29 September 2017

To celebrate international coffee day, I've rustled up these scrumptious coffee eclairs. From the choux pastry to the light and creamy coffee filling, these will blow your friends away. If you get the chance to try them!

These coffee eclairs are a welcome break for coffee in the kitchen. Usually used in cakes, ice cream or tiramisu, it's rather unused. Chocolate pieces are always welcome, whether it be a crumble of a chocolate bar or just the remaining chocolate from making your own chocolate truffles.

For the choux pastry I've made it with 50/50 water and milk. You can change this to just water if you like. I personally like using some milk as it gives a little extra flavour and colour from the sugars in the milk when baked.

Not a fan of coffee? Not a worry! Instead, you can swap it out for some vanilla, citrus zest or even add a quantity of cocoa powder for a delicious chocolate version.

Bake in a preheated oven at 200°C for 15-20 minutes. Oven dependant. Cook until golden brown.

For the filling, bring the milk to the boil with the coffee grains.

Whisk the egg yolks and the sugar together in a mixing bowl. When light, add the cornflour to the egg yolks.

Pour the boiling milk over the eggs whilst whisking. Return to the pan and cook whilst whisking on a medium heat. You'll notice lumps will form at the start, persevere, keep whisking and cooking. Soon you will be left with a smooth, lump free pastry cream.

Remove from the pan, cling film the top to avoid a skin and refrigerate until fully cold.

Press the pastry cream through a fine sieve to remove any large pieces of coffee and to loosen it.

Whisk the cream and icing sugar until firm peaks. Fold the cream into the pastry cream in 2 stages. Spoon into a piping bag with a nozzle of your choice.

Pipe the filling onto or into the choux pastry. If onto, cut the pastry in half. Decorate with garnish of your choice. I went for some left over chocolate I had and some cocoa powder.

Tuesday, 26 September 2017

Renowned for its vivid green colour and numerous health benefits. It can only be matcha. Perfect in so many desserts, chocolates and drinks, there's no reason it shouldn't be a cupboard staple. Find out everything you need to know about matcha in this post (and stick around for some superb recipes to use it in at the end).

Where can I find it?It's a question asked more than you'd imagine. You may see matcha cakes, drinks and ice cream everywhere, but have you ever seen it in your usual supermarket? I doubt it. The easiest way to get some is probably online. There are many companies dedicated to the sale of matcha out there. Choose one with a good reputation. Don't forget Amazon. You name it, Amazon almost always sells it. Failing that, head to a good Asian food shop, ideally Japanese or Chinese. The chances are if they don't sell any, they can certainly give you some good information on where you can get some.

What about the varieties? Which do I buy?

Matcha can generally be bought in 3 or 4 varieties (grades). Ranging from cooking/culinary grade, all the way to ceremonial grade. For a first time user of matcha for cooking be sure to get the cooking grade. It's not as vibrant green but you'll save yourself a healthy amount of money. Cooking quality matcha is best suited to its purpose. It has a slightly bitter taste compared to the premium, but when combined into cakes or other foods it helps to blend the flavour so it's more palatable.

Premium quality is great for lattes or drinking as matcha tea. Of course, cooking is always an option for this grade but matcha of almost any quality is considerably more expensive when compared to other teas. Premium quality is a much healthier alternative, it is full of antioxidants and vitamins. This is definitely the choice for the daily drinker.

Lastly, there is the ceremonial grade matcha. The brightest and greenest matcha available. It's used in Buddhist temples, ceremonies and by tea connoisseurs all around. Only using the finest leaves from tea bushes, grown in a period of darkness, resulting in leaves rich in amino acids. Not used for cooking, only for drinking as a traditional tea. It would take an experienced drinker to recognise the difference between premium and ceremonial grade matcha.

Storage You now have a pouch or tin of matcha. You'll be unlikely to use it in a few days. Cooking and drinking with matcha is not something you use large amounts of. Generally used by weight and measured in the smallest of gram measurements, you could see yourself hanging onto a bag for a long time.

Whatever you do, keep it in a cool dark place. Don't be tempted to transfer into a lovely Kilner jar and have it on show in your kitchen. It may well look fancy but all that sunlight will not be doing it any favours.

Storing in an airtight container or a zip seal bag is a must. Matcha is prone to oxidisation, even after production. Plus, keeping the moisture at bay helps with dreaded clumps and lumps.

Using matcha

It's an ingredient that the culinary scene is seeing grow and grow. With its delicious clean flavour, subtle tea aroma, health benefits and photogenic style, this is an ingredient that I don't think will be a phase. It's around for good. It's taken its time to be truly appreciated, having been around for centuries. However, over the last year or two has it become more appreciated.

Used for flavour and for its colour in many foods from mochi, to ice cream and drinks, it's a flavour profile you must try. The ceremonial grade, when made into tea, is said to have tones of "unami". Just remember to not go overboard, especially when using with other flavours. Like with everything - you can have too much of a good thing.

Now, for some tried and tested recipes you can enjoy with the whole family. Check them out and be sure to tell me what you think once you've tried them.

Friday, 22 September 2017

I don't always cater to my girlfriends tastes, but on this rare occasion she actually had an idea for what to make. Roaming the aisles of PX Mart, she saw some biscuits out of the corner of her eye and with chocolate in her hand, it was only a matter of minutes before we knew what the next recipe would be.

Shortbread is delicious and lemon and white chocolate are a winning combination, sure to please even the fussiest of tastebuds. A silky smooth lemon and white chocolate ganache accompanied by melt in the mouth lemon shortbread covered by a crisp white chocolate. It's lemony heaven. We could have easily eaten them all in one sitting. As it were, they only lasted two days with us, but if you're in more civilised company, they might last even longer for you.

If you are not in the chocolate mood or just fancy a lovely crumbly biscuit, this lemon shortbread on its own is the perfect way to satisfy the urges. Take it from me, the recipe amount of shortbread won't be going into these truffles. It would be rude not to sneak a piece beforehand.

Tuesday, 19 September 2017

Originating from Japan these imagawayaki's can now be found all over. Delicious pancake/ waffle batter stuffed full of delicious fillings, there are few street food snacks I enjoy more whilst on the go.

Value for money these can go right at the top. 1 piece set me back $10 Taiwanese dollars which is roughly 25p or 32 cents. Can you even get a Freddo for that nowadays?!

How they're made.

Imagawayaki is made in a unique pan that's just for them which full of 2cm deep circles. Of course, they are now available in almost any shape. From Spongebob to Hello Kitty!

The sweet batter is then poured into these moulds, brushed up the sides and left to start to cook. After around 30 seconds the filling of choice is added. With most sellers having huge pans they can have up to 60 halves on the go at any one time.

After the fillings are heated through 2 halves are joined, more batter is used in a squeezy bottle to seal them together. A short sealing time later and they are ready to enjoy.

The flavours.

Predominantly you will find imagawayaki filled with red bean paste or a vanilla custard. Whether there are stools amongst the street markets, on a street corner or even at an event, these two flavours will certainly be there. Having only seen a limited selection you can only imagine my surprise when stumbling upon a stool with 3 extra flavours. Especially that they were savoury aswell! Having only seeing sweet it was time to give them a go.

They are as follows.

Red bean imagawayaki.

The traditional flavour and one of my favourites in truth. The sweet red bean filling is perfect, there's enough flavour from the beans so it's not boring with the right amount of sweetness to wolf down a fair few. P.S, if you get too many this flavour is yummy cold as well.

Vanilla custard imagawayaki.

No matter what culture vanilla custard is sure to crop up. Perfectly gooey with the right amount of "stodge", which coats your mouth perfectly with flavour. If you're lucky there are a few stools with chocolate sauce too, the addition to this flavour is superb.

I'm well aware for the next three flavours my naming of them may not be entirely correct. I'm sure they will have a name for the flavour but I've named them based on flavour.

Spicy garlic chicken and spring onion imagawayaki.

From the first bite, you get this wonderful hit of garlic and fresh chilli. Followed swiftly by a touch of sweetness from the spring onion and fragrance from some ginger. Add that to the meatiness of the chicken and it was just right. The addition of cabbage to help bulk these out and keep them moist hit the spot.

Fragrant chilli chicken imagawayaki.

Next up was the fragrant chilli chicken. Instantly there's an aromatic bouquet of ingredients. Very clean on the palette with a light heat from some chilli flakes at the end. Quite possibly my favourite savoury imagawayaki.

Fish and tomato imagawayaki.

Possibly the biggest surprise. After munching down the four previous imagawayaki's I was certainly hitting a roll full of flavour. I was soon stopped in my tracks. Don't think I didn't like it, it was more of a shock, biting in and finding an intense fishy flavour. I must say the filling was incredibly flaky and moist which made it enjoyable.

Friday, 15 September 2017

Apparently "bigger is better" isn't always true. Normally, I'd completely disagree. However, in this case, I'm all for it. These mini chocolate and passion fruit cupcakes are packed full of flavour and make the perfect size treat any time of the day.

Passion fruits are a real favourite of mine. Full of flavour, on the sour side and full of bits to crunch on. What's not to love? Combine this fresh citrusy flavour with a light chocolaty sponge and they just hit it off. Using a good quality cocoa powder is essential. Passion fruits, depending on location and season, can set you back more than a penny or two. There's little point having a delicious frosting on an average cupcake.

Do feel free to ditch the mini and make some large ones. I doubt you have a tray at home for mini cupcakes. I certainly don't (not even a normal cupcake tray). If you still want to try and keep the shape, without a cupcake tin, I recommend doubling up the cases. It certainly helped me. They are by no means perfect but a lot better than a potential catastrophe of them collapsing and leaking everywhere.

Do bare in mind when it comes to piping the icing it will have the seeds in it. Choose a nozzle to accommodate this. It will be hard to get the right look that you have in mind, piping anything with bits in is always a little, let us say dodgy.

Tuesday, 12 September 2017

In an effort to use up the last of a bag of matcha I've been living off these iced matcha tea lattes for the past week.

These lattes can be found all over, but why pay the price of the coffee shop? They are super easy to make. It takes a lot less time than going to the cafe and can be enjoyed in the comfort of your home. In three or four minutes, you could be sat back and indulging. The smooth clean flavours of the matcha will wash over your tongue. It's ice cold perfection! There is, of course, another plus side. You've got your matcha, you've made a latte and now you have some left over to get baking with.

If you're still not convinced that it's worth the effort to make yourself a matcha tea latte, then consider that with normal tea you don't get half the benefits of a matcha one. With matcha, you consume the whole leaf (and all its benefits).

Be sure to check back in two weeks time for a full feature of matcha in the Ingredient Insight.

Friday, 8 September 2017

With some leftover condensed milk from some key lime pies earlier in the week, there is no better way to use the rest up than in these chewy peanut and caramel bars.

With a crunch from the thin chocolate, an incredible chew from the caramel and a wonderful roasted peanut flavour combined into the sweetness, these bars will leave you pondering if "just one" really is enough.

If like me you fancy saving yourself some time, there is no need to fully coat these bars individually. They will still be delicious no matter what. Just with sticky fingers! If you do feel inclined to coat in chocolate after cutting for a more refined looking bar, add at least an extra 50g of chocolate to your shopping list.

I enjoyed these at fridge temperature, the caramel has a wonderful chew to it this way. However, place a couple in the freezer, leave them for a good 2-3 hours until completely frozen. Then have a go at them. So much chewier and quite reminiscent of the American candy bar, Charleston Chew.

In a medium sized pan, bring the butter, the condensed milk, the honey and the brown sugar to the boil.

Cook gently until a deep caramel colour. Takes between 2-5 minutes.

In a separate mixing bowl combine the chopped toasted peanuts and the peanut butter.

Pour over the caramel mix and stir well until fully combined.

Pour into a lined tin or container, roughly 10x18 cm.

Leave to cool on the side before chilling in the fridge to set. Roughly 1-2 hours.

Melt the chocolate over a bain marie for coating.

Remove the set peanut caramel from the mould. Either cut into pieces or leave whole, it's your choice.

If whole, pour half the chocolate on top and spread over until the top is fully covered. Place in the freezer for 5-10 minutes to quickly set the chocolate. Turn over and repeat with remaining chocolate on the other side. Quickly set in the freezer once again. Once set cut into desired pieces.

If you've portioned, simply dip in the chocolate to get a full even coating. Bare in mind you will need extra chocolate if doing it this way.

Tuesday, 5 September 2017

With the end of the summer in Taiwan soon upon us, it was time to try and use up some left over coal and fire up the barbeque. Using fairly ordinary ingredients you can find at home, this sticky BBQ sauce is one to keep in the fridge.

This soy sauce based BBQ is a variation that once tried will be remembered. It has this wonderful stickiness, a great balance of sweetness, spiciness and sharpness. Whether you want to use it as a marinade like I did, or simply to smother your meat with afterwards, this is the sauce to use.

Packed with garlic, ginger and chilli, it sure has lots of flavour. A sprinkle of sesame seeds gives the perfect subtle nuttiness to make the flavour compound so much stronger. This sauce will keep happy in the fridge so you can come back and enjoy it as you please. Upon barbequing with pork belly you get a delicious char, a hint of smokiness and a wonderful caramelisation with the sauce. It creates this sticky outer layer, packed full of flavour, that's truly finger licking.

In a medium sized pan combine the garlic, fresh chilli and ginger. Add to this the liquids. The soy sauce, the chilli sauce, the honey and the worchestershire sauce.

Gently bring everything to the boil. Add the brown sugar and stir until dissolved. Slowly bring back to the boil.

In a small mixing bowl stir the cornflour and water until dissolved. Whisk into the saucepan.

Leave on a medium heat, stir regularly for 5 minutes or until it's just thinner than the desired consistency. (It will thicken as it cools).

Pour into a sterilised jar and leave to cool. If not using right away, store in the fridge.

For the BBQ pork, cut the pork belly into your desired sized pieces. Add 4-5 tbsp of the sauce, rub all over thoroughly and marinade over night in the fridge. (Marinating over night can be skipped if need be).

Cook over hot coals if using a barbeque, alternatively grilling will work just as well, minus the lovely char and BBQ flavour.

Turn regularly brushing with more sauce from marinating or fresh from the jar. When almost cooked give a generous sprinkle of sesame seeds.

Once cooked give once last brush of the sauce, a few sesame seeds and serve.

Friday, 1 September 2017

Whenever you buy fresh ginger. there's always more than you can handle. You can pickle the remaining or turn it into some wonderful stem ginger but I much prefer to make some delicious biscuits instead.

Ginger biscuits have always been a favourite of mine (though it's an extensive list). With the addition of apple to the mix, these biscuits resemble an apple crumble. The warmth and aroma from the fresh ginger and the fruitiness from the apple are mouthwatering. The brown sugar helps combine with flavours adding a nuttiness of its own. Add a drizzle of your favourite toffee sauce to top off these moreish biscuits.

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I'm Neil Collins, a professional chef, vagabond and hobbyist photographer. A Tall Order documents recipes from my kitchen and around the world. Read more about me and my travels or peruse my recipes for a new favourite meal.